• 100 Years at Epping
  • 100 Years at Epping
  • 100 Years at Epping
  • image
  • image
  • image
Scripture Reflections

Whenever I have the chance, I watch a movie every now and then. Sometimes there is something at the movies that catches my attention and if I have the time, I’ll go and watch it as my form of stress-reducing recreation.

As last Sunday, there are three parables in today’s gospel. The third one reminds us of the teaching in the first parable of last week’s Gospel – that there will be good and bad in the Kingdom of God – and in the Church.

The Gospel text for this Sunday is a long one. It is taken from the section of Matthew’s Gospel that presents the “wisdom teaching” of Jesus. It contains three parables about the kingdom of heaven ...

 

My dad used to eat papaya and one day he decided to throw the seeds on the lot near our house. Then he was surprised one day when the seed that he threw grew and soon enough it was producing fruit and my mum didn’t have to buy papaya anymore.

I think all of us have mobile phones, whether that’s in the form of a smart phone or just a simple mobile phone that you can call and text.

 

In the 80s, there was a famous Protestant pastor in Manila named Ronald Remy. He was a very charismatic preacher. However, he made a stir one day when he declared publicly that he loved Jesus more than his wife. 

 

There are two connected themes in today’s Gospel: don’t be afraid to witness to your faith in Christ – because God loves even the sparrows.

In almost all cultures, we show our hospitality by offering people food. For many of us, we see food as a way to connect, we see food as a way forge relationships.

Today the Church celebrates the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, one of the most basic tenets of our Christian belief and underlying principle of our faith. As Catholics we utter the name of the Holy Trinity many times. 

Friday, 02 June 2017 17:23

Pentecost - 2017

 May the Loving Creator Spirit, who has given life and faith to each one of us, sustain and guide us on our way through life so that each of us may truly give glory to God.

In the second reading in today’s Mass St Paul writes to the Ephesians: May he (Jesus) enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.

 

Imagine there are two people having this conversation, “If you really love me, then prove it!” A girl asks her boyfriend. The boyfriend responds, “Let’s go outside and let’s watch your favourite movie, ‘Godzilla’! The girl responds, “Yeah! You really love me!!! I can’t imagine you who love watching rugby, would join me watching a movie about a giant lizard!!!”

The very comforting words of Jesus in today’s Gospel give us some hope, dear friends, in our challenging world of today. The rapidly changing times and situations make us realise that nothing seems to be the same every day. 

 

Many years ago my professor in missiology went to the Holy Land to do some studies. In his course, he got invited to watch a contest between shepherds. In this contest, the shepherds are asked to bring 10 sheep each and they are placed in a big ring enclosure and all the sheep were mixed together. 

 

This Gospel text always brings a smile to my face. I am not sure if it is because I so enjoy reading about this episode in the resurrected life of Jesus or because it brings back so many fond memories of my days in the Seminary.

 

Page 26 of 44